assassination
Americannoun
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the premeditated act of killing someone suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person.
The meticulous way in which the journalist's assassination was carried out has led to suspicions that his killers were professionals working for state security.
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the act of destroying or harming treacherously and viciously.
They went after me with everything they had, engaging in character assassination and in destroying my reputation—a complete fabrication and frame-up.
Other Word Forms
- counterassassination noun
Etymology
Origin of assassination
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To counteract viewer angst about all the dark topics covered in the news about Vietnam, assassinations and more, television leaned into pure escapism for most of the mid-late Sixties.
Then Turning Point USA — the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk and helmed by his wife, Erika Kirk, following his assassination — came up with an idea.
From Los Angeles Times
In 1963, just days before his assassination, JFK hosted a White House fundraiser for the center.
From Los Angeles Times
And yet for a century — going back to 1928 — we’ve had the Great Depression, wars, terror attacks, assassinations, pandemics, assorted unrest and other market shocks.
From MarketWatch
He covered war, famine, riots and assassinations, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the Indian army's storming of the Sikh Golden Temple.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
